Key traits:
| 📏 Size | medium |
| 🐕 Temperament | friendly, lively |
| 🏃 Activity | high |
| ✂️ Coat | short |
| 👶 With children | fairly good |
| 🛡️ Guarding | low |
| 🎓 Trainability | high |
Description
The Whippet stands out among sighthounds for its friendly, playful, and highly adaptable nature, coupled with quick reactions. Its signature speed and agility make it a natural hunter, demonstrating both courage and tactical intelligence in the field. These sensitive dogs do not respond well to harsh training methods.
Possessing a robust constitution, Whippets often enjoy a long lifespan of around 15 years and are generally free from common hereditary issues like severe birth defects or chronic eye inflammation. While their thin skin is prone to superficial cuts and abrasions, it has remarkable regenerative ability. Their temperament perfectly complements their athleticism—they are energetic yet calm, loving, and friendly toward people. Regular exercise and opportunities to run are essential. Although suitable for apartment living due to their quiet indoor nature, they are happiest with space to stretch their legs at high speeds (reaching up to 65 km/h).
Whippets are typically sociable with other dogs, but their strong hunting instinct requires careful management. In winter, they appreciate protection from the cold, but with the right care, they make outstanding and graceful companions.
This website is an independent and free project. I would like to gradually replace illustrative photos with real dogs from breeders.
If you send me a photo of your dog, I can include:
- the dog’s name or your kennel name
- a link to your website
What I need:
- a good-quality photo (ideally landscape)
- confirmation that you own the photo
- permission to publish it on this site
- a link on your website pointing to www.choosedog.info (I will also include a link to your website on this breed page)
Please email me at
info@vyberpsa.cz
(the breed name will be added to the subject line)
Or contact me via Facebook Messenger: m.me/choosetherightdog
FCI standard
FCI-Standard N° 162 / 14. 05. 2007/ GB
WHIPPET
ORIGIN : Great Britain.
PATRONAGE : FCI.
DATE OF PUBLICATION OF THE ORIGINAL VALID STANDARD : 06.03.07.
UTILIZATION : Racing dog.
CLASSIFICATION F.C.I. : Group 10 Sighthounds.
Section 3 Short-haired Sighthounds.
Without working trial.
GENERAL APPEARANCE : Balanced combination of muscular power and strength with elegance and grace of outline. Built for speed and work. All forms of exaggeration should be avoided.
BEHAVIOUR / TEMPERAMENT : An ideal companion. Highly adaptable in domestic and sporting surroundings. Gentle, affectionate, even disposition.
HEAD
CRANIAL REGION :
Skull : Long and lean, flat on top, tapering to muzzle, rather wide between the eyes.
top : Slight.
FACIAL REGION :
Nose : Black. In blues a bluish colour. In livers a liver nose. In isabel, creams or other diluted coat colours any colour except pink. Only in whites or parti-coloured a butterfly nose is permissible but not a completely unpigmented nose.
Jaws/Teeth : Jaws strong, powerful and clean cut with a perfect scissor bite, i.e. the upper teeth closely overlapping the lower teeth and set square to the jaws.
Eyes : Oval, bright, expression very alert.
Ears : Rose shaped, small, fine in texture.
NECK : Long, muscular, elegantly arched.
BODY :
Topline: Showing a graceful arch over loin but the dog is not humped.
Back : Broad, well muscled, firm, somewhat long.
Loin : Giving impression of strength and power.
Chest : Very deep with plenty of heart room, brisket deep, well defined. Ribs well sprung, muscled on back.
Belly : With definite tuck up.
TAIL : No feathering. Long, tapering, when in action carried in a delicate curve but not higher than the level of the back.
LIMBS
FOREQUARTERS : Forelegs straight and upright, front not too wide.
Shoulders : Oblique and muscular; blades carried up to top of spine, where they are clearly defined.
Elbows : Set well under body.
Pasterns : Strong with slight spring.
HINDQUARTERS : Strong. Dog able to stand over a lot of ground.
Thighs : Broad across.
Stifles : Well bent.
Second thighs : Well developed.
Hocks : Well let down.
FEET : Very neat, well split up between toes, knuckles well arched, pads thick and strong.
GAIT / MOVEMENT : Perfectly free action. In profile should move with a long easy stride, maintaining the topline.
The forelegs should be thrown well forward and low over the ground, hindlegs should come well under the body giving great and powerful drive. General movement not to be stilted, high stepping, short or mincing. True coming and going.
COAT
HAIR : Fine, short, close in texture.
COLOUR : Any colour or mixture of colours.
SIZE :
Height at the withers : Dogs 47-51 cm (18 1/2 - 20 ins).
Bitches 44-47 cm (17 1/2 - 18 1/2 ins).
FAULTS : Any departure from the foregoing points should be considered a fault and the seriousness with which the fault should be regarded should be in exact proportion to its degree and its effect upon the health and welfare of the dog.
ELIMINATING FAULTS :
• Aggressive or overly shy.
Any dog clearly showing physical or behavioural abnormalities shall be disqualified.
N.B. : Male animals should have two apparently normal testicles fully descended into the scrotum.
